Johns stars as Knights stun Storm

Andrew Johns starred as the Newcastle Knights defeated the Melbourne Storm 37-18 in the round 21 National Rugby League match in Newcastle.

The Knights, who led 19-6 at half-time, scored six tries to Melbourne's three, including a double to hooker Danny Buderus, to seal only their fourth win of the season.

Johns once again had a hand in everything, setting up several tries, scoring one of his own, kicking six from six attempted conversions and a long-range field goal.

The win saw the Knights move to 12 points at the bottom of the NRL, just one point behind South Sydney who take on the Bulldogs on Sunday.

The Storm, meanwhile, sit in fourth place behind the St George Illawarra Dragons, but may slip out of the top four depending on results.

First half

The Knights bolted to an early lead with a try to Johns inside three minutes.

A mistake off a high ball from Storm winger Jake Webster saw the Knights on the attack deep in the visitors' half, and Johns strolled over underneath the posts.

The Newcastle captain converted his own try to give the Knights a six-point advantage.

Johns again figured prominently in Newcastle's second try, which came just five minutes later.

A strong run from forward Josh Perry put the Knights in excellent field position, before Johns tested the Melbourne defence with a banana kick from 10 metres out.

The ball hit the left goalpost and ricocheted into the in-goal area, where Buderus pounced to score.

Johns again made no mistake with the conversion and the Knights led 12-0.

Storm captain Robbie Kearns looked set to score his side's first six-pointer midway through the half when he crossed the tryline untouched. However referee Shayne Hayne pulled up the play, deeming the pass to Kearns forward.

The Knights increased their lead in the 32nd minute when Perry crashed over near the posts. Clint Newton had attracted four Melbourne defenders, allowing Johns to run to the line and offload to Perry.

The video referee was called upon to the judge the grounding with the Storm arguing Perry had been held up. However the video footage proved inconclusive and with the call left up to referee Haynes, the Knights were given the benefit of the doubt.

The Storm hit back late in the stanza when full-back Billy Slater finished off a right-side back line movement.

However, the Knights had the final say on the scoreboard, with Johns kicking a long-range field goal with just 10 seconds left before the half-time break.

Second half

The Storm made an ideal start to the second stanza, forward Dennis Scott crashing over in the 42nd minute.

But the Knights wasted little time in notching their response, Trent Salkeld crossing in the 46th minute.

The home side extended its lead to 31-12 off the back of a 80-metre try involving Newton and winger Anthony Quinn.

A grubber from Storm half-back Matt Orford, deep inside Newcastle's half, hit the legs of Newton. The forward retrieved the ball and from a standing start made a 40-metre break to the halfway line.

He then offloaded to a supporting Quinn who touched down for the four-pointer.

The Storm looked to have pegged one try back when Slater beat Johns to the ball in the in-goal area. But the video referee ruled no try, judging that Webster had touched the ball in the preceding bomb contest.

It seemed all the luck was with the Knights, who were in again when Slater fumbled a ball backwards in tackle by Matthew Gidley. Johns pounced on the loose ball and offloaded to Buderus who scored underneath the posts.

Melbourne interchange player Cooper Cronk crossed in the dying stages from dummy half, but it was little consolation for the visitors.